Downtown International Falls

Walking Tour of downtown International Falls, MN

Created by the Koochiching County Historical Society and Museums, this walking tour will take you up and down 3rd Street, which is the heart of downtown International Falls, and the important buildings around it. On this tour you will see buildings as they are now, and through pictures, how those buildings once looked; even the empty lots in International Falls hold important pieces of history.

Even though the history of International Falls is relatively new, the land itself has been inhabited by humans for centuries. Prehistorically, people settled on the banks of Rainy River. Eventually, a permanent settlement was founded along the river, known as Koochiching Village. Koochiching Village was in the perfect position to become a trade hub. As a trading center, it was popular among the Native people and trading companies. Koochiching Village was a stopping point on the "Voyageur Highway." Voyageurs were rugged men employed by trading companies to haul goods up and down rivers and across large expanses of land. For 200 years, these Voyageurs were the lifeline to the outside world for the people living in Koochiching Village.

In 1870, a Scottish prospector by the name of Alexander Baker, was the first to settle in what was to become Koochiching Village after paddling from Lake Superior. His nephew, Joseph Baker, arrived in 1881 and became the first postmaster, bandmaster, and Justice of the Peace for Koochiching. In 1892, Alexander Baker sold all of his land, except for one acre (now known as Baker's Acre), to C.J. Lockwood from Minneapolis.

After the fur trade ended and the excitement from the short lived gold rush on Rainy Lake died away, a man named E.W. Backus came to town in 1900 with the vision to turn Koochiching Village (soon to be named International Falls in 1903) into a sprawling city that would rival Minneapolis. Backus bought the land Lockwood got from Baker and started the necessary construction to establish a massive paper mill. In 1905, construction started on the dam needed to power the mill. Building the dam meant that the Koochiching Falls, after which the town was named, were destroyed. When the dam was completed in 1909, Backus could finally begin building his paper mill. A sister mill was also built by Backus across the river in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. Even though the devastation brought on by the Great Depression prevented Backus from creating his dream city before his death, his mill did bring a new life to the area.

This tour takes you down 3rd Street, which has been the downtown business section of International Falls since 1902. Prior to 1902, the downtown business district was located on 2nd Street. On June 15, 1902, a fire that nearly destroyed the village prompted the move of downtown from 2nd Street to 3rd Street.

With this tour, you will be able to experience International Falls up-close and personal, and see it through the eyes of all the people who made it the great community it is today.

If you take pictures or selfies during the tour, be sure to use our hashtag #koochmuseums to show your support!

Museums Hours:

Summer: 9-5, Sunday-Saturday

Winter: 9-5, Monday-Friday